VIDEOAssociations claim: Minister Vidović sent special forces to beat fighters, they also smashed our mobile phones

Associations stemming from the 1992-1995 Defense-Liberation War sent an open letter to the public, stating that on August 1, during a protest by demobilized fighters and their family members on the Travnik-Vitez main road, members of the Support Unit of the Ministry of Interior of the Central Bosnia Canton used force against them, reports the Patria news agency.

Similar protests were simultaneously organized in several other locations in the Federation, but police forces, as stated in the letter from the Associations, were nowhere as brutal as they were towards demobilized fighters in the Central Bosnia Canton.

-The incident occurred when the fighters who participated in the protests began to disperse due to the rain. During the brutal attack by police officers, six to seven people were detained, and after it ended, one more person was detained. They were subjected to criminal processing and their statements were taken. There were no organizers; the former fighters agreed among themselves and took to the road fighting for their rights. We demand accountability and the resignation of the Minister of Interior of the Central Bosnia Canton, Felix Vidović (HDZ BiH), who issued the order to use force and threatened to kill us all.

We call on the Internal Control of the Federation Ministry of Interior to act in accordance with the Law and the Police Code of Ethics and punish those who ordered it, the letter from the Associations states.

Demobilized fighters and their family members who blocked the Travnik-Vitez road on August 1 claim that the police were equally brutal towards both men and women, and that they took and smashed the mobile phones of anyone who took photos or recorded videos. They also say that some of them were hit indiscriminately.

Response from the Ministry of Interior of the Central Bosnia Canton

Legal measures will be taken against seven people who were detained during the protest of demobilized fighters in Travnik on August 1, the Ministry of Interior of the Central Bosnia Canton announced.

The Ministry emphasizes that the protest, which gathered between 70 and 90 demobilized fighters, and the blockade of the M-5 road on the Travnik - Vitez section, were not legally announced, and that immediately upon learning of the road blockade, police patrols, as well as members of the Support Unit and public order units, were dispatched. The fighters, the Ministry states, were warned to unblock the road, but they ignored this and disrupted public order and peace.